


Day Three Hundred Forty-Six || Food

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [346]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22083634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: It was how their friendship started, and he knows it'll be one of the things that ties them together even as the miles stretch between them.
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uchiha Sasuke
Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [346]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1235528
Kudos: 19





	Day Three Hundred Forty-Six || Food

**Author's Note:**

> (This is a sequel to days 98, 108, 139, 227, 284, 301, and 331!)

It’s funny how food went from a thoughtless necessity to something so...important.

Sasuke had never really given the culinary arts much consideration. Food was just...food. Sure, you could get fancy and expensive with it. Some of it is healthy, some of it is not. Some he likes, some he can’t stand. But it had no real...meaning to him. No significance.

Not until his Home Economics class.

True, cooking and food wasn’t the sole focus of the class. There was sewing, cleaning, managing a home, knowing how to care for children. In a lot of ways it felt a bit...dated, and yet it was all handy to know, once he got over the fact that he was the only guy in a class typically known as a “woman’s subject”.

But, admittedly, the days where they focused on food preparation quickly became his favorite. As neat as it was to learn to sew his own stuff, there was something about knowing about such a basic and necessary skill that was...rewarding. Satisfying.

And, well...there was one other reason.

Most of the students were underclassmen. All girls. The only other senior in the hour block was Hinata Hyūga. Someone Sasuke vaguely knew due to meshing social circles, but had never really had a chance (or reason) to speak to. While everyone else seemed a bit unnerved at his presence as both a guy and an upperclassman, Hinata had greeted him amiably, and was more often than not his partner for any activities the class took on.

She was friendly, warm...and yet quiet and attentive. Not like most other girls Sasuke typically found himself around, like Sakura or Ino. Being rather reserved himself, he found it...refreshing. Even his best friend Naruto was unapologetically loud at nearly every moment, and it was just so exhausting!

Given that the class wasn’t exactly difficult (at least not compared to his other classes, several of which were honors and AP), and the atmosphere so much more relaxed and easily paced...it quickly became one Sasuke found himself looking forward to, especially given its position at the end of the day.

So when the time came to switch classes for the semester...he _really_ didn’t want to.

He’d made friends in the class. Learned a lot. Enjoyed all the activities, but especially all the time partnering up with Hinata, and most of all when they were cooking. Food had become more than just something to do three times a day. It’d become a hobby, and a meaningful activity between two friends.

Stressing about the change for several weeks, he’d talked to her about it, learning more about her own plans before just...deciding to stay, his father and his stuck up standards be damned. If Hinata could stand up to her own about her future in a far bigger way, then...he could do that much!

So, the rest of his senior year passed with Home Ec as his last class. It was mostly more of the same, but...that was just how he wanted it. His little retreat from the rest of the world, the rest of its expectations.

Hinata, he knew, felt very much the same.

The rest of the year, then, was spent just...enjoy it. Come graduation, Sasuke found himself a bit uneasy about the future, as many of his classmates did. But there were some things he knew would be just fine.

“Promise you’ll write?”

“I’m not going to just disappear for a year,” Hinata laughed. The ceremony was over, everyone milling about as pictures were taken and hands shook. “I’ll have my phone, and wifi whenever I can find it. Odds are I’ll be at least texting you a few times a week, okay?”

“Just...be careful.”

“Of course. I’ve been networking all year - I have friends in all the places I want to visit that I’ll be staying with, so...I’ll be f-fine. And I’ll send lots of pictures!”

“You better.”

“...I sort of wish you could come with me.”

Sasuke’s brows rose a bit. “...yeah?”

“Yeah! I mean…” She’d sheepishly tucked hair behind her ear. “Y-you’re a really good friend, Sasuke. I’m...I’m really going to miss you. And our class. No more hanging out after school baking pies, huh?”

“...yeah, guess not. Not for a while, anyway. I bet we’ll make a day of it whenever you get back, huh?”

“Yeah...if I come back,” she lightly teased. “M-maybe I’ll find someplace I really want to stay. Open up my little bakery, right?”

Sasuke couldn’t stop a soft laugh. “Yeah...then I guess I’d just have to come to you.”

“...maybe over one of your breaks, you can meet me whenever I’ll be. If...if you want.”

“...maybe I will.”

The actual goodbye was a tearful one. Going to send her off on her first flight - Hiashi nowhere to be seen - Sasuke had been a bit startled when she latched onto him tightly.

“...I’ll text you when I land.”

“...okay, good.”

“I’ll be heading s-straight to my friend’s place - she’s going to meet me at the airport. So...I won’t be alone.”

“Smart.”

“It’ll probably take me a while to settle in, so...if I go q-quiet after that, I’ll just be busy. But I’ll reply when I can.”

“Yeah...don’t worry about it. Enjoy your trip, all right? Don’t be glued to your phone. Experience it, okay?”

Finally backing up a bit, she let eyes flicker between his own. “...I will. H-have a good Summer if...if I don’t see you before you start school, okay?”

“I’ll give it my best effort, but...no guarantees.”

Smiling, she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as the boarding was announced. “...I better go!”

“Yeah, don’t be late.” Waving, he watched her get into line, digging out her ticket and passing through onto the plane.

Moving to a window, he’d watched it take off, a strange tightness in his chest.

...he still hadn’t told her how he felt, but...well, given that she was leaving, it felt like a pretty bad time to try. If she rejected him, it’d probably hang over her and ruin her experience. And if she didn’t - if she returned the feeling - then they’d reach that point only to be separated for an entire year.

He resolved to do it when she got back. Part of him was, admittedly, a bit worried she’d meet some cool foreign guy on her travels and forget about him. But at the same time...he also knew she wasn’t the sort to get swept up like that. Sure, she was a bit of a romantic, but...not _that_ bad.

Summer seemed to crawl by. He kept up his cooking habits, still delighting his mother whenever he joined in to help with dinner.

“Going to be lonely around here, won’t it?”

“Huh?”

“Oh come now, Sasuke,” Mikoto had gently chided. “You think I didn’t notice you moping around after Hinata left?”

Startled pink bloomed in his cheeks, and his mother’s knowing smirk revealed she realized more than he’d let on.

“...she’ll be back before you know it. You two have something tying you together, after all. It might seem like ages, but...time has a way of flying the older you get. She’ll have her adventure, and probably be a different person when she gets back. But food, more than anything else, brings people together. And you two met over it, right? That’s a guarantee she’s a keeper.”

“Mom,” Sasuke had groaned, earning a laugh at his embarrassed tone.

“Sorry, sorry...I’m just so proud of how much you’ve grown this year. It’s nice to have this to share with you. And I know Hinata feels the same way.”

Staring down at the tomato he was peeling, he went quiet for a moment.

“...yeah. I hope so.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is...a little short, and I wanted to write one more scene, but I am just...too wiped, lol - maybe I'll have a chance to wrap this one up before the challenge is over!
> 
> And yes, to anyone just tuning in / behind, I'm still going though 2019 is over. I WON'T GIVE UP xD It's been 365 days, but I haven't written my 365 pieces, so I'm gonna plough through and finish up, no matter when it actually ends!
> 
> ...*coughs* Anyway...more of the Home Ec verse. I know this had a lot of time skipping in it, but...well, with the challenge almost over, and without much left to write, I figured I'd just hop forward. I have one more idea for it, and depending on how prompts go, maybe it'll happen in the challenge. If not, I'll just...write it on its own, lol
> 
> BUT, now I'm gonna go sleep. One thing I'll look forward to once this is over is (hopefully) getting to bed at a better hour x'D Thanks for reading!


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